BLACK HISTORY MONTH: My Annual Commemoration

MY ANNUAL MUSINGS REGARDING THE MONTH DEDICATED TO BLACK PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT

So here I am,

Sitting up in my bed on what’s been a very rainy day in Southern California – with more to come – as I type this,

Pondering about these twenty-nine (as you know, it’s a leap year) days that are slated to commemorate and celebrate the vital and essential contributions that African Americans have made to get these United States to the point where it’s considered the best country on this planet;

It certainly is such in the opinions of the 10,000 migrants from mostly Latin American countries that cross the Rio Grande on a daily basis to try for a better life,

That conservatives have been foaming at the mouth over for seemingly forever.

Contrary to what you may be thinking,

As important, admirable, essential, and heroic as they all are,

It’s not my intention to rattle on about the people that are always mentioned this month like,

• Martin Luther King
• Fredrick Douglass
• Rosa Parks
• Harriet Tubman
• George Washington Carver
• W.E.B. DuBois
• Marcus Garvey
• Booker T. Washington
• Madame C.J. Walker
• Jackie Robinson
• Malcolm X
• Sidney Poitier
• Oprah Winfrey

Or even Kamala Harris.

Or Barack and Michelle Obama.

Instead,

My thoughts concerning this month in the context of the state of how things concerning African Americans are socially in particular are thoughts that I simply can’t help thinking…

For instance,

I can’t help thinking about how anyone can REALLY see America as a country where loving it is mandatory when it has definitely NOT loved too many Americans who happen to be Black, particularly from low income inner city areas;

Ask the families of…

• Michael Donald
• James Byrd
• George Floyd
• Ahmaud Arbery
• Michael Brown
• Breonna Taylor
• Trayvon Martin
• Freddie Gray
• Eric Garner
• The nine African Americans murdered by that White supremacist at that church in South Carolina
• The more than 4,400 Blacks lynched in the U.S. over the decades

If America loved those people listed above.

Not to mention the open season on people of color (as well as Jewish people, too) by far right-wing, MAGA conservatives that has been prominent since former President You-Know-Who was elected in 2016.

It’s said that you’re supposed to love America.

But the evidence has shown that America has no love for a whole lot of people who happen to be Black of African descent – except for those “exceptions” like Candace Owens, Tim Scott, Larry Elder and Clarence Thomas,

Or who happen to be Latino – except for people like Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz,

Or who happen to be Asian – does the “Stop Asian Hate” campaign enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic ring a bell?

And with Florida and a number of other states maneuvering to ban the teaching of Black History from their schools and colleges,

How could I not have thoughts of how too much of America has no love for people who look like me?

As someone with a bachelor’s degree in history, that hits pretty close to home.

All right, I’m aware that I’m rambling – here’s what I am getting at…

With the social, political, and cultural climate being what it is,

It’s more important, vital and essential that Black History, along with all other forms of history outside of those focusing on people of European descent, is emphasized everywhere and during every month.

Not just during February.

Or from September 15th through October 15th in the case of Latinos.

Or March in the case of women.

In my humble view that may not mean that much to too many folks, especially to those who probably don’t agree with me,

The only way that this country can TRULY be considered the greatest country in the history of this planet is by celebrating and emphasizing the ethnicities and cultures of ALL those who live in these borders, not just those who descended from a European country.

Which is why Black History Month (in this case, being that it’s February) is more than necessary and important;

It is essential and vital.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

JUNETEENTH – MY ANNUAL COMMEMORATION OF THIS IMPORTANT HOLIDAY

Image courtesy of events.ccc.edu

THOUGHTS OF WHAT HAS BECOME AN ESSENTIAL HOLIDAY

I’ve always felt that it was very cool that the day that commemorates the day that the slaves from the last area that didn’t get the news that the Civil War was over and that the Emancipation Proclamation was signed were officially proclaimed to be freed by General Gordon Granger in Galveston, TX,

Falls on the day following my birthday.

Of course Juneteenth has long been a holiday – perhaps not officially, but a holiday nonetheless – in Texas, which I consider the last slave state as well as the last Confederate state due to the fact that because the ways of communications were nearly non-existent due to the morse code lines being cut by Union soldiers, thereby cutting off Texas from the rest of the Confederacy,

It was no wonder that it took two months after Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox County Courthouse for the news that the South lost and the slaves were free to get to Texas and Galveston.

Celebrating Juneteenth with a parade in Boston. Photo courtesy of wisn.com

Anyhow,

It’s good, and will always be good, that Juneteenth is a federal holiday.

It should always serve as a significant history lesson on slavery in this country and how it ended.

It’s referred to by many as “Emacipation Day” and “America’s Second Independence Day”, complete with traditions celebrating African American culture that I believe is so essential for understanding, acceptance, and just plain coming together.

More than anything else, I believe that Juneteenth is every bit as important a day as the Fourth of July.

The more people believe that, the better off this country will be as a whole;

That’s the way I see it.

As I type this, this Second Independence Day is starting to wind down, at least on the east coast.

To state the obvious, I hope that this year’s Juneteenth was a good one for everybody.

It’s a holiday that is certainly worth looking forward to and needs to be celebrated.

Image courtesy of accessofwestmichigan.org

THIRTY YEARS: Marking The 30th Anniversary of the Los Angeles Riots

At around this time in 1992, you saw a lot of this throughout Los Angeles. Photo courtesy of reddit.com

THREE DECADES GOES BY FAST

I hate cliches,

But it really does seem like yesterday that my hometown city of Los Angeles erupted in violence, fires, and looting in the wake of those four L.A. police officers being found not guilty in the beating of Rodney King,

Which happened a year earlier and – very important – was caught on someone’s video camera.

That was the shock and the cause of the outrage which resulted in the worst riots in L.A. history, that four cops were caught on video beating a Black man and still got off scott-free,

(Yes, I know that two of them were eventually convicted in federal court for violating Rodney’s civil rights and served jail time, but that’s besides the point)

On top of Soon Da Ju, a Korean convenience store owner in what was then-known as South Central Los Angeles, murdering 15 year-old Latasha Harlins over a $1.79 bottle of orange juice two weeks after Rodney was beaten, who got off with a suspended sentence, community service and a fine where if the murderer were Black, the death penalty would have been invoked.

Looking back on it all now,

It goes without saying that all of that violence – which lasted six days, injured 2,383 people, and cost 63 lives – was no surprise at all, considering the way African-Americans in the nation’s second largest city have been treated for as long as such city has existed.

To those four cops and that store owner, I reckon they saw Rodney and Latasha as nothing but a couple of so-called “n*****s” who were inferior beings and whose lives didn’t matter one bit as well as being nothing but thuggish criminals.

Which I reckon too many folks not from the “hood” saw African-Americans (and Latinos) who lived in the inner city “hoods” of L.A.

Rodney King (right): The man whose beat down by the L.A. police in March of 1991 sparked those riots in ’92. Photo courtesy of history.com

A scene from the ’92 riots. Photo courtesy of jetmag.com

The two statements on this sign at this protest march sums things up perfectly. Photo courtesy of huffpost.com

AS FOR THE IMPACT OF THOSE RIOTS AND HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED IN THE THIRTY YEARS SINCE…

I must be honest in stating that,

Not that much has changed for the better.

For those who dispute that, I invite them to ask the families of,

• George Floyd
• Trayvon Martin
• Eric Garner
• Ahmaud Arbery
• Michael Brown
• Tamir Rice
• Brianna Taylor
• Daunte Wright

And all those other families of the tons of unarmed African Americans who were needlessly killed,

if things are any better for them.

Despite having elected a Black man of African descent as this nation’s Commander In Chief – twice,

And despite recently confirming the first African American female to sit on the Supreme Court,

People who are not,

• White
• Conservative
• Christian
• Male
• Wealthy
• Straight

or a combination of those attributes,

Are still catching h**l in this country.

Are still being profiled – racially and otherwise – by law enforcement and others.

And are still being seen as “lesser” beings who don’t matter and treated as such by too many Americans.

In other words, they are continuing to be denied the two things that, bottom line, is all that is wanted by all human beings in general,

• Total and complete EQUALITY
• Total and complete FAIRNESS

And as long as that’s the case,

Riots like the one in America’s second largest city thirty years ago,

And the one over George Floyd’s murder two years ago,

Will continue to happen.

Or at the very least, the risk of such will be high.

Rodney King, at the start of those riots, asked in a news conference,

“Can we all get along?”

To honestly answer that question, I must state as much as I would like to say otherwise,

The jury is still out.

Though I do remain hopeful.

Except for these two hash tags, that’s about all I have to say on this anniversary…

#StopAsianHate

#BlackLivesMatter

As does the statement on this sign at what I’m sure was a protest over George Floyd’s murder. Photo courtesy of wbur.org

COMPARING BOOKER T. WASHINGTON & W.E.B. DUBOIS: Who I Prefer

W.E.B. DuBois (left) and Booker T. Washington (right). Photo courtesy of owlcation.com

ENDING BLACK HISTORY MONTH WITH A LOOK AT TWO OF THE MOST FAMOUS FIGURES IN AMERICAN HISTORY

At the turn of the 20th century,

No Black person of African descent was more famous or prominent than these two men, as they were the biggest leaders that African Americans had to offer.

Though they both advocated and tirelessly campaigned for freedom and equality among this country’s 8.8 million Blacks,

That turned out to be pretty much the only thing that W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington had in common as far as philosophy and how African Americans can prosper and gain true equality.

On one hand,

Booker T. Washington, having been born into slavery and worked his way up into prosperity through simple hard work and education – particularly the industrial and vocational kind – as he founded Tuskegee Institute in Alabama for that purpose,

Felt that if Blacks went along with the pronounced Jim Crow segregation and bigotry that was all too common in the South while working hard at learning vocations and trades to become productive members of society in general, they would eventually be accepted and respected by whites and be seen as true equals.

Indeed, in his famous “Atlanta Compromise” speech in 1895, he implored Blacks to “Cast your buckets where you are,” and not worry about demanding their right to vote or to end Jim Crow.

On the other hand,

W.E.B. DuBois, who earned bachelor degrees from Fisk and Harvard Universities and was the first Black person to earn a doctorate from Harvard, helped found the NAACP in 1906 and wrote the famous Souls of Black Folk three years earlier, had opinions that were the opposite of Washington’s in that he felt that Blacks needed to advocate for the right to vote, to end segregation, for advanced education, and for complete civil rights and equality.

In essence, he was a quintessential precursor figure for the Civil Rights Movement that followed.

Without DuBois, there would have been no:

• Marcus Garvey
• Martin Luther King
• Malcolm X
• Nelson Mandela

or,

• The Civil Rights Movement in general.

OK, so who do I prefer?

I clearly prefer DuBois’ philosophy and approach to achieving Black equality,

Because though Washington’s stance on Blacks gaining equality through vocational and industrial education and learning trades wasn’t a bad idea,

He lost me when he advocated not demanding equal rights, going along with the prevalent bigotry of the times and trusting that whites will eventually accept them as complete equals.

While DuBois wanted full freedom and equality for African Americans immediately.

The fact that Blacks were worse off than ever when Washington died in 1915, what with segregation and brutality (i.e., lynching) being more prevalent and the Ku Klux Klan restarting and gaining strength that year; the movie Birth of a Nation, which depicted African Americans as clearly lesser beings that needed to be controlled and was an epic smash, didn’t help matters any,

Showed that Washington’s approach to achieving Black equality wasn’t going to work as whites – at least at that time – would never see blacks as equals or give them complete equal rights no matter how hard they worked or how well they did in industry or trades.

Meanwhile,

The Civil Rights Movement, which DuBois’ work eventually begat, was much more effective as his approach set the ground work for the marches, sit-ins, boycotts, and “I Have A Dream” type speeches that resulted in the end of Jim Crow,

The Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act in the 1960s,

Affirmative Action in the 1970s,

And ultimately the election of Barack Obama as President – twice.

While Washington, to me, while I wouldn’t call him a complete “Uncle Tom”,

Was too accommodating and supportive of a system that wanted no part of anyone who looked like him and would never give equal rights to such.

In short,

W.E.B. DuBois was ultimately better for Black people in America.

The one thing that DuBois and Washington agreed on as far as what they wanted for Black people in America. Image courtesy of blogspot.com

MY 20th ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATION OF SEPTEMBER 11th

A shot of the World Trade Center Twin Towers being attacked with the Brooklyn Bridge in the foreground. Photo courtesy of internationalbusinesstimes.com

WHAT I WAS DOING ON THAT TRAGICALLY FATEFUL DAY (and other thoughts and memories regarding those attacks on the World Trade Center)

CLICHE ALERT COMING UP…

Twenty years sure goes by fast.

Much like John F. Kennedy’s assassination and Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins landing on the moon, as everybody remembers where they were when significant events like that happened,

Those nineteen members of Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda flying those planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and being thwarted from crashing into Capitol Hill in D.C. by those passengers on Flight 93 in rural Pennsylvania is definitely no exception to that notion.

Everyone alive back then remembers where they were on that Tuesday morning of September 11th;

Or, at the least, I’m absolutely sure that everyone knows where they were and what they were doing on that day.

Here’s where I was and what I was doing…

The 9-11 Twin Towers Memorial in New York City. Photo courtesy of woondu.com

I was living in Culver City, CA and in my third year working as a Physical Education teacher at Farragut Elementary School, which was/is located down the street and around the corner from my house; it was quite convenient to get there as it was a ten to fifteen minute walking distance between my home and the school.

I wish I can talk about something spectacular that happened that day,

But it was truthfully an uneventful school day as it was the second week of school and to be honest, I don’t remember everything as far as what I exactly did;

I was most likely getting the first graders acclimated to the routines of P.E. class – warm-up exercises, running a lap – before partaking in whatever activity we were partaking in.

I was also most likely setting up temporary squads with my other classes and doing various activities that I unfortunately have no recollection of what they exactly were.

The only references to what happened in New York, D.C., and Pennsylvania at Farragut was when someone in the teacher’s lounge mentioned that morning that the Twin Towers and the Pentagon were attacked,

And when a fellow P.E. teacher brought little American flags to me and my other P.E. colleague; I still have those flags to this day.

To make a long story short, I went about my day in teaching my classes and went home, just like any other day.

When I got home, I asked my brother to turn on the TV in the living room, which is where I got the details of that historical tragedy from the towers blowing up to people jumping off of such, and everything in between.

One thing I do remember was thinking how I wasn’t shocked beyond belief like practically everyone else, as it wasn’t as if those fundamentalist extremist Muslims had never attacked U.S. buildings before; a truck full of explosives crashed into that same World Trade Center eight years earlier.

And I knew that Bin Laden and the rest of those Muslim terrorists hated America, American democracy, and democracy in general, seeing us as “The Great Satan” for our supporting Israel, imposing sanctions on Iraq, having troops in Saudi Arabia, and what they saw as general immorality in the U.S.

The other thing that I remember about September 11th is something that happened eleven days later that I was a part of.

I was at UCLA’s football game vs. Ohio State at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, and being that all the sporting events were postponed the week before, it was obviously a big deal as I knew that much like at every other major sporting event in the country, my alma mater’s Bruins and the Buckeyes were going to do something during the pregame festivities in remembrance of the 2,996 people who died eleven days before.

Sure enough, there was a big moment of silence; the cheerleaders from both UCLA and Ohio State joined hands together in solidarity, there were a lot of American flags in the large crowd, and in the middle of the moment of silence someone – I think it was an Ohio State fan – screamed loud enough for every one of the 73,723 fans who were there to hear…

“GOD BLESS AMERICA, YEAH!!”

I must admit, I got a tiny bit choked up over that.

By the way, I learned from some Ohio State fans sitting near me what a Buckeye was – a nut native to the state of Ohio.

And UCLA ended up winning the game 13-6.

That’s pretty much what I remember from that fateful day and what – along with this COVID-19 pandemic – is arguably the biggest event that has happened in the 21st century (at least to date).

I know there will be a lot of commemorations regarding what happened that morning in 2001;

I’ve been watching Spike Lee’s documentary on such, called “NYC EPICENTERS 9/11 – 2021 1/2” on HBO;

It’s really good; I recommend it.

Even though it pales on a pronounced scale to what will be seen and heard over the next three days and especially this coming Saturday, which will be the actual twenty years to the day mark,

Consider this my commemoration to 9-11.

#WeWillAlwaysRemember

The Freedom Tower in New York City, which replaced the Twin Towers. Photo courtesy of blogspot.com